Scottish Curlers Fight for the Strathcona Cup

 

(Lennoxville) - Bagpipes broke through the chatter on Sunday morning at the Lennoxville Curling Club as the Royal Caledonia Curling Club of Scotland took to the ice.

Before the morning's match began, the Scottish curlers serenaded the Canadian audience, proclaiming to "show our friends from Canada just what we Scots can do".

The eastern contingency of the Scottish tour began in Halifax and moved west through eastern Canada. Before they came to Lennoxville, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club played a match in Quebec City. After the first match on Sunday morning, they travelled to North Hatley. Forty other members of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club are now travelling through western and central Canada. All told, they have accumulated a grand total of 2364 points to Canada's 2098.

David Paterson, the second for the Scottish team and the treasurer for the 2013 tour, sat down with The Record to talk curling and Canadians. He comes from Cullen, Scotland, in the County of Moray, and works at the Bank of Scotland when he's off the ice. "Canada did well yesterday," he commended us modestly, gesturing to the clash of rocks and ice taking place behind the glass.

Paterson says that what the Scottish enjoy most about the tour is the "camaraderie with other players" between the two countries. He describes Lennoxville as "open and welcoming", but with much colder weather than the Scottish are used to. Glancing at the numbers, he says that while 60 members of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club crossed the ocean, only 19 are part of the eastern tour.

Both Paterson and Scottish skip Jim Hogg say they are having a "great time" on the tour. Each member of the club is allowed one chance to play in the Strathcona Cup tournament in order to give everyone an opportunity to travel, and both men are taking advantage of their turns.

The three contingencies of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club will meet in Toronto at the end of the tour and travel from there back to Scotland. The Scottish won't be back for another ten years, but, as always, both parties will take home a trophy to keep the spirit of the Strathcona Cup competition alive.